WOMEN LEAD CHANGE: Watkins helps build local workforce

Jenna Blount, Clinton Herald, Iowa
·2 min read

Mar. 25—Temp Associates Clinton Branch Manager Susan Watkins is motivated to lead change in the community by the desire to ensure it will be a place where her kids and grandchildren will thrive in the future.

"I feel that we need to keep being open-minded to changes that will grow our community and keep it changing with the times as needed," she said.

Watkins was born and raised in southern Minnesota. She moved to her husband Randy Watkins' hometown in 1987, where she found a family oriented community with strong core values that appealed to her.

She started working at Clinton's Mount St. Clare College in its admissions office, then had various roles within the Clinton School District, including Family Center liaison and in office administration at Longfellow Elementary School and Washington Middle School.

She accepted a position with AllStar Staffing in 2004, which in 2013 became Temp Associates and grew to be the largest staffing service in the area. One of seven locations in the state, the location at 1801 S. 21st St. in Clinton was voted the number one employment agency in the 2022 River Cities Choice Awards. At that location, Watkins provides help to those who need resources, knowledge, and support, thereby contributing to the local economy and businesses.

In late February, Labor Market Information Division of Iowa Workforce Development reported the rate of unemployment in Clinton County was 4 percent, a rate higher than most other counties in Iowa but still considered by economists to be a rate indicating the economy is nearly to or at full capacity.

"I enjoy helping employees find a career that will help them be successful in all aspects of their life," Watkins says, "from having a position that they enjoy to being able to provide for their families and feeling fulfilled in their choice."

Now beginning her 20th year in staffing, Watkins is also involved in the YWCA Clinton, the Paul B. Sharar Foundation, the Clinton Rotary Club, and Skyline Center Inc. She also is a Grow Clinton Ambassador, a member of Grow Clinton's Events Committee, and has been a Symphony of Lights volunteer board member for approximately 10 years.

"The boards and committees I work with," she says, "are made up of such great people, making it fun to learn about what our community offers and where the future is taking us. Being part of this is amazing."